UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State School of Music faculty members violinist James Lyon and pianist Timothy Shafer will present a recital as Duo Concertant at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Esber Recital Hall. Their program features a romanticized transcription of baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi's Sonata in D Major, the "Spring Sonata" of Ludwig van Beethoven, and an ingenious setting of Munro Leaf's children's book "Ferdinand the Bull" for solo violin and narrator. Timothy Shafer will narrate the story of a bull that doesn't like to fight. Admission is free.

Duo Concertant has traveled throughout the United States and Asia, performing at many prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. For more information, click here.

Program

Excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" -- George Gershwin, transcribed by Jascha Heifetz

"Ferdinand the Bull " -- Alan Ridout (for speaker and violin)

Sonatina in G Major, Op. 100 -- Antonín Dvořák

James Lyon came to Penn State in 1991 from a career as a professional orchestral performer and chamber musician. Since his appointment, his studio has grown to become one of the strongest in the region, attracting a stimulating mixture of music education and performance majors from the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, China and South Korea. His students have won numerous prizes in solo competitions at the local, regional and state level, and play professionally in such orchestras as the Atlanta Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic.

Educated at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music, West Texas State University and the Yale Summer School of Music, Lyon has studied with many of the top musicians of our time, including Charles Castleman and Elaine Richey, as well as members of the Cleveland, Tokyo and Fine Arts quartets. He has performed as a member of the Louisville Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and has served as concertmaster of the symphony orchestras of Amarillo (Texas) and Altoona (Pennsylvania). He is currently concertmaster of the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra.

In 1999, Lyon was recognized by the Pennsylvania/Delaware String Teacher's Association (PADESTA) as Collegiate Teacher of the Year for his consistent dedication to teaching at the highest level. He has served as president of PADESTA and has also served twice as chairman of its state solo competition. In addition to his position of professor of music at Penn State, Lyon has taught violin and chamber music for more than a decade at The Quartet Program, a summer program hailed by violinist Itzhak Perlman as "the best of its kind." He has also taught in Siena, Italy, at the Sessione Senese per La Musica e L'Arte.

Timothy Shafer teaches studio piano and coordinates the class piano and piano pedagogy programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels at Penn State. He earned the bachelor of music degree in piano performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, where he won several performing awards, including the Rudolf Serkin Outstanding Pianist Award. He received master's and doctoral degrees in piano performance from Indiana University, where he was the winner of the prestigious annual Concerto Competition, performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto in B-flat minor. He was named the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association Teacher of the Year in 1997.

Shafer appeared in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 1995 as member of Duo Concertant and returned in 1997 for his solo debut. In addition to maintaining an active solo recital and chamber music schedule in the United States, he has concertized, taught and adjudicated in South America and Asia. He is an active masterclass clinician and competition adjudicator throughout the country for professional music organizations and colleges, and is a frequent soloist with many regional orchestras. Shafer is the co-author of Class Piano for Adult Beginners, published by Prentice-Hall. His articles on piano teaching have appeared in the Piano Pedagogy Forum and in the American Music Teacher. He recently completed a six-year span of service on the board of the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy, serving as co-chair for the Student Committee.